Post-match Thread: AFC Wimbledon v Charlton Athletic | Sat 20 March 2021

eaststandmike

Got in just in time to catch the last 30 minutes, seemed I missed the best part and witnessed the dross including that shocking equaliser.

Early doors for Nigel, just glad he has two weeks to work with the team and make his mark as clearly Jackson picked the team today.

Not surprised by what we are seeing, have said all season we are a bang average league one team and will finish 10th and see no reason to think otherwise.

Nigel will make the changes needed especially in the summer so onwards and upwards.

Dazzler21

Leuth said:

For about the 30th game in a row, I remain astonished and infuriated by the types who come on here after the match and turn their attentions immediately onto Ian Maatsen rather than any of our other players who all ran, tackled and intercepted less than him. What did he do wrong this time? He's about the only player in our squad who would have kept up with that second-half break and he was a bit unlucky not to block the eventual cross, which missed everyone anyway. Apart from that he looked completely comfortable and was involved in most of our confident interchanges? While Gunter on the other side was just hoofing it pointlessly and loping about at 70% of Maatsen's speed?

Maatsen let in a lot of crosses today but not one was the reason for dropped points.

That was Famewo playing a lovely square to their player.

Not sure what happened formation wise but it was very wrong.

Covered End

JoshAddick said:

Did Schwartz touch the ball?

Schwartz hasn't touched the ball since around early February.
It is quite a feat.

AddicksAddict

Not impresses by Adkins's tactics.

eaststandmike

AddicksAddict said:

Not impresses by Adkins's tactics.

Lol, give Nigel a chance, he had only been in the building for 5 minutes 

colthe3rd

Dazzler21 said:

Leuth said:

For about the 30th game in a row, I remain astonished and infuriated by the types who come on here after the match and turn their attentions immediately onto Ian Maatsen rather than any of our other players who all ran, tackled and intercepted less than him. What did he do wrong this time? He's about the only player in our squad who would have kept up with that second-half break and he was a bit unlucky not to block the eventual cross, which missed everyone anyway. Apart from that he looked completely comfortable and was involved in most of our confident interchanges? While Gunter on the other side was just hoofing it pointlessly and loping about at 70% of Maatsen's speed?

Maatsen let in a lot of crosses today but not one was the reason for dropped points.

That was Famewo playing a lovely square to their player.

Not sure what happened formation wise but it was very wrong.

Formation wise? That's the most balanced we've looked for a while. 

dickad1

Covered End said:

JoshAddick said:

Did Schwartz touch the ball?

Schwartz hasn't touched the ball since around early February.
It is quite a feat.

He’s become the most significant CAFC player I’ve seen in over 30 years, and in such a short space of time.

As in - it’s the first time I’ve said ‘even I would have been as good as him today’ and it is irrefutably true!

soapy_jones

We might of bought a ringer!

brownbear

Never going to get anywhere with a squad of players that consistently let in two goals per game - especially when you don't have a prolific scorer at the other end of the pitch.

I was hopeful we would get a bit of a bounce from the new manager, and go on a strong run to make the play-offs. However it is slowly dawning on me that this group needs a big overhaul in the summer and start again next year.

That seven game winning streak seems so odd now in the context of the whole season, have barely looked like winning two in a row since!

J BLOCK

.

killerandflash

Watching Quest tonight, I can't confirm it was exactly correct, but it appears that by coming back from 1-0 down to win 2-1, Pompey did their first Golfie since April 2019!

Exiled_Addick

Bowyer would’ve been ripped to shreds on here if he came out at full time and said he switched from a formation that had got us in front and was causing the opposition lots of problems to one which was primarily aimed at nullifying something that the opposition was doing, and at the time had failed to manifest any discernible threat. 

It was a very strange move. 

Exiled_Addick

In Schwartz’s defence, he is constantly being brought on late in matches where we’re on the back foot and struggling to get on the ball all over the pitch. I’m not saying how little he actually manages to get involved is particularly defensible but I’m sure he’d have looked a lot better had he been playing from the start when we were actually attacking, passing to red shirts, and had the ball under control in the final third. By the time Schwartz came on Stockley and Aneke were both struggling to get on the ball as well, although obviously making a better fist of it than Schwartz. 

cabbles

Still replaying that pass forward by Pratley to Shinnie that went behind of, and to the wrong side of him in the final minutes.  Vintage stuff

If ever a man was only comfortable playing the a ball sideways or backwards, it’s him.

Re: the Gunter/Maatsen debate, I think they’ve both been pretty poor all season.  Maatsen you can say that he’s young, he’s learning in his defence.  Gunter has been a massive let down imo.  I had high hopes for him when we got him, but you could argue we might as well offered Solly a new contract based on what we’ve seen.

Got to give Adkins a chance despite his change of formations throughout the game.  I think he might not have known how toilet we really are until seeing it close up today.  If he can pull anything out of this squad and we make the play offs then that’s a bonus, but equally if we finish the season winning 2, drawing 3 and losing 4 for example, then let’s not lambast him and write him off.

Rob

We just don't have enough quality in the players we have. I'm not sure why because some do have a decent pedigree. Like Gunter for example. But, the way we play is characteristic of players who just lack confidence which can come from a basic lack of quality. To do the simple things. Too often we pass backwards when we should be on the front foot. Especially when switching from defence to attack. And this just so often stops our momentum. And how else do you explain the Famewo debacle. This has been a season of howlers but that one took the biscuit. I just couldn't see how we would come back from that. Talk about giving the game to them on a plate. So, again, we just don't have the quality. Unless Adkins can instill in them some confidence and swagger I think we're going to have this frustration to the end of the season. I'd love us to get into the playoffs but we make too many basic errors. And that has what has been costing us game after game.

I agree that both Purrington and Matthews would probably do a better job than Maatsen and Gunter. It's worth giving them a go anyway. And, I thought Adkins post match comments were interesting. He looked a bit shocked actually. Hopefully he can get right down to the problems and sort them out quickly. He has 2 weeks now to work with them. Probably a big ask.

Overall a very disappointing game. And that goal was an absolute howler. I have no idea what Famewo was thinking. By far a bigger mistake than the one at Wembley. It felt like that to me anyway. Totally knocked the stuffing out of me as it was such a schoolboy-ish error. Inexplicable.

Lucky_the_Cat

Who changed the formation that was working well in the first quarter?

If it was Adkins, the only excuse I can offer is that he wouldn't have known that the football we were watching was as joined up as we have seen all season from these players. Maybe he thought, wrongly, that there was an even better level to find at this moment.

If it was JJ I have no excuse to offer at all.

Addicktion

By the time we next play we could be 12th if results go against us. We really needed the 3 points today. Didn't really understand the  formation changes but this break gives Adkins a great opportunity to assess the squad properly and maybe bring some of the youth through. 

Moo

thickandthin63 said:

Bad as the 2nd goal was,the 1st was shocking,the guy was in our box,Pearce was 6 foot away,the guy turned freely twice with 3-4 other spectators rooted to the spot,and basically placed the ball unchallenged into our net.

Totally agree. Sums up just how bad we are defensively.  Just don’t know what is wrong with this group of players. The whole back 5 needs to go. Hopeless 

golfaddick

king addick said:

Leuth said:

For about the 30th game in a row, I remain astonished and infuriated by the types who come on here after the match and turn their attentions immediately onto Ian Maatsen rather than any of our other players who all ran, tackled and intercepted less than him. What did he do wrong this time? He's about the only player in our squad who would have kept up with that second-half break and he was a bit unlucky not to block the eventual cross, which missed everyone anyway. Apart from that he looked completely comfortable and was involved in most of our confident interchanges? While Gunter on the other side was just hoofing it pointlessly and loping about at 70% of Maatsen's speed?

Fancy talking about the game overall? Your constant defence of Maatsen is boring and frankly a little weird. 

For the record, I dont think he played bad today.

He was ok today, but not brilliant. Problem for me is he is better going forward than defending - which for a defender is not  great 😄. He made a couple of great runs, especially in the 2nd half, but as a pp has just said, opposition wingers get past him too easily & he often doesn't cut the cross out. Maybe try Purrington there & let a natural wide man (Millar) go forward.

Moo

AddicksAddict said:

Not impresses by Adkins's tactics.

This was the first time he’s seen us play live. More of an observation. He looked quite shocked in the post match interview. Glad he got to see just how bad we are defensively. 

cafc_se7

Garrymanilow said:

A lot of grief being given to Amos for the goal. He's switched off a little bit for the return pass sure, but only because he will not have possibly been expecting to be sold ridiculously short by Famewo. Famewo was absolutely on to receive that ball, there was no-one near him when he received it and he had several opportunities to either play a pass or just clear the ball out before settling on the pass back to Amos, which was way too short. I know a lot of people get upset by the concept of playing out from the back but aside from the fact that Adkins will want us playing out, it was hardly a suicide ball from Amos. It's a shame for Famewo but he hasn't made a lot of mistakes this season. Can't remember another team like ours for making such terrible mistakes though. Must be a record being set

The point is that if he could have just cleared it why didn’t Amos just push everybody up the pitch in the first place!?

mascot88

You could tell that there was a lot going on under the surface with Nads as he was doing that interview. 

Can he get more from these players, my thinking is No, it needs a Chris Powell esqe closed season. Big changes, particularly defencively. 

The hope was great for 35 minutes and then boom we are back on reality. 

The players seem brain dead, Amos wasting time at the end, but also Nads decision to not stick with 2 wingers, why, it chuffing was working. 

Gunter, jesus wept, he couldn't play a forward pass for 70 minutes. 

Let's hope that we see an up tick in performance, Nads' system and beliefs start to appear on the pitch, then TS gives him a proper Whallop of money and come August we have 10 sparkling new, higher quality players. 

I sense that NA (I can't call him Nads) has the ability to justify spending money, I think he will work out what TS wanted to see when presenting a player. 

Overall that second half was appalling, no cohesion, no communication, no one cares, just hoping for Chuks to bully his way into a chance, which he almost did. 

cafcfan1990

mascot88 said:

You could tell that there was a lot going on under the surface with Nads as he was doing that interview. 

Can he get more from these players, my thinking is No, it needs a Chris Powell esqe closed season. Big changes, particularly defencively. 

The hope was great for 35 minutes and then boom we are back on reality. 

The players seem brain dead, Amos wasting time at the end, but also Nads decision to not stick with 2 wingers, why, it chuffing was working. 

Gunter, jesus wept, he couldn't play a forward pass for 70 minutes. 

Let's hope that we see an up tick in performance, Nads' system and beliefs start to appear on the pitch, then TS gives him a proper Whallop of money and come August we have 10 sparkling new, higher quality players. 

I sense that NA (I can't call him Nads) has the ability to justify spending money, I think he will work out what TS wanted to see when presenting a player. 

Overall that second half was appalling, no cohesion, no communication, no one cares, just hoping for Chuks to bully his way into a chance, which he almost did. 

I noticed you were trying to avoid calling him that...

mascot88

cafcfan1990 said:

mascot88 said:

You could tell that there was a lot going on under the surface with Nads as he was doing that interview. 

Can he get more from these players, my thinking is No, it needs a Chris Powell esqe closed season. Big changes, particularly defencively. 

The hope was great for 35 minutes and then boom we are back on reality. 

The players seem brain dead, Amos wasting time at the end, but also Nads decision to not stick with 2 wingers, why, it chuffing was working. 

Gunter, jesus wept, he couldn't play a forward pass for 70 minutes. 

Let's hope that we see an up tick in performance, Nads' system and beliefs start to appear on the pitch, then TS gives him a proper Whallop of money and come August we have 10 sparkling new, higher quality players. 

I sense that NA (I can't call him Nads) has the ability to justify spending money, I think he will work out what TS wanted to see when presenting a player. 

Overall that second half was appalling, no cohesion, no communication, no one cares, just hoping for Chuks to bully his way into a chance, which he almost did. 

I noticed you were trying to avoid calling him that...

I tried but I had to abort mid post 😂😂

Chris_from_Sidcup

Genuinely don't know why we don't give Schwartz a game with the U23s. Would do him the world of good, get some minutes and hopefully some confidence.

In fairness to Schwartz, i think we've agreed he's more of a fox in the box type striker, so when you bring him on late in a game........but you've taken off both creative outlets (Millar & DJ) then what are we expecting him to do?

We could have Lewandowski in the centre, but with zero service what's he going to do?

JamesSeed

I thought we had found a formation that worked when we stumbled upon playing Watson in front of the back four (when Pratley was injured). It seemed quite effective, even when Pratley returned at RCB for a game or two. I was surprised when JJ dropped that formation for the Rovers match. 

Watson was beginning to show why he was so highly regarded at Forest. I wonder if NA might try it again after watching recordings of our recent matches? I feel our midfield is much too lightweight without a proper defensive midfielder at its heart. 

Todds_right_hook

Billericaydickie said:

JoshAddick said:

Did Schwartz touch the ball?

That was exactly what I was thinking.

He came on for another game recently when he never touched the ball once in 20 minutes.

That is 2 games with about 30 minutes total playing time with no touches 
of the ball. Absolutely shocking.

And why did he not get a touch? We were pointlessly knocking the ball around the back 4 then launched it long fir stockley to not win the header.

To satisfy the people that count how often he touches the ball, maybe we should play him at centre back

Todds_right_hook

AddicksAddict said:

Not impresses by Adkins's tactics.

How much input did Jackson have today? Adkins knows very little about the players and may have listened to Jackson more than he normally would?

Chunes

JamesSeed said:

I thought we had found a formation that worked when we stumbled upon playing Watson in front of the back four (when Pratley was injured). It seemed quite effective, even when Pratley returned at RCB for a game or two. I was surprised when JJ dropped that formation for the Rovers match. 

Watson was beginning to show why he was so highly regarded at Forest. I wonder if NA might try it again after watching recordings of our recent matches? I feel our midfield is much too lightweight without a proper defensive midfielder at its heart. 

I thought he had one good game there and then reverted to being woeful in the next one.  

I believe he hasn't quite triggered his extension yet, so with just nine games left, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't start again. He's no doubt a healthy chunk of change from the wage budget, and does he represent value? He's been inconsistent at best, and next season those already heavy legs are another year older.

MuttleyCAFC

brownbear said:

Never going to get anywhere with a squad of players that consistently let in two goals per game - especially when you don't have a prolific scorer at the other end of the pitch.

I was hopeful we would get a bit of a bounce from the new manager, and go on a strong run to make the play-offs. However it is slowly dawning on me that this group needs a big overhaul in the summer and start again next year.

That seven game winning streak seems so odd now in the context of the whole season, have barely looked like winning two in a row since!

As we are a team that reliably lets in two goals a game, that is Adkins first priority to fix. Being a side that reliably scores two goals a game, fixing it will bring positive results and a run. The question is, how easy will that be? We know, the team went on a run of not conceding which suggests it is possible. What was different? Was is only Inniss? How important a factor is Amos i.e. A confident one opposed to a nervous one? It is pointless doing it in a way that takes away from us scoring though.

It is probably the job of Adkins and his staff over the next couple of days when the players are off to watch as many match videos as they can and try to come up with some answers that can be applied using what is available. I think that can be an advantage for a fresh pair of eyes as when you are in the middle of it, sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees. A statistical breakdown of type of goals conceded, probably done by Adkins and JJ themselves will help I think. If we passed less from the back for instance, how many goals would that have saved? And importantly, how many goals would it have cost at the other end?